The XBMC / Kodi Remote App, Yatse, Has Been Removed From The Play Store

For the android users out there who are interested in their media, they will be well versed when it comes to XBMC. The Xbox Media Center, as it used to be known, became the much-shortened ‘XBMC’ to highlight its step away from a Xbox oriented media player. However, that name change was not enough and for legal reasons, XBMC, back in August of last year changed its name to Kodi. or ‘Kodi Entertainment Center’ for its full title.

Well, being such an open-source and highly popular media option, as you might imagine, a number of offshoot apps, features and services started to emerge. One of those in particular which quickly became a popular third party option was Yatse. For those unfamiliar with Yatse, this is basically a remote control for the XBMC/Kodi application. Well, for those who know about Yatse and had planned on downloading the app from the Play Store, it now looks like you have missed your chance. It seems the Yatse app has been pulled from the Play Store by Google.

Offering some explanation on the situation, Tolriq Yatse sent out a Google+ post yesterday advising that the app had indeed been pulled off of the Play Store, following its two and a half year residence. However, Tolriq seemed as miffed by the situation as anyone, stating that the apparent reason given was “Violation of the intellectual property and impersonation or deceptive behavior provisions of the Content Policy“. Further noting, that no prior warning or notices had been received before the app was pulled. Tolriq does also note, that nothing was actually changed on the app in recent times except for the filling out of the new content rating form which Google asks developers to now fill out. However, in an updated post sent out by Tolriq today, some more information has been provided. It seems Google have responded to Tolriq’s initial queries as to why the app was pulled with the following “After re-reviewing your application we have found that your promotional screenshots uses one or more protected images that belongs to a third party (images from copyrighted content)“. Tolriq does note after trying to further communicate with the powers-that-be, the app still remaining offline.

For those interested in downloading the app, it is worth pointing out that the app is still available via the Amazon Appstore who do not currently seem to have a problem with it. Otherwise, if you are hoping to get hold of it through Google Play then you may want to stay tuned to Tariq’s Google+ account (source link below) for further updates on the situation.